Trenching machine



T. LOKEN TRENCHING mourns June 21 1927, 1 15' Filed Feb. 11. 192 2Sheets-Sheet 1 11 Ju e 21, 1927 To LOKEN TRENCHING mqamn Filed Feb. 11.1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 21, 1927.

UNITED STATES I 1,633,115 PATENT OFFICE.

TRULS LOKEN, OI KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T AUSTIN MACHINERY COR-POBA'IION, or CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPOBATIGN OI ILLINOIS.

TBE'NCHING MACHINE,

Application filed February 11, 1924. Serial no. 691,957.

The invention relates to trenching machines and has particular referenceto that class of trenching machines having at the rear end thereof aswinging boom, or bucket support, and in which the excavating isperformed by endless series of buckets which are caused to travel'up anddown the said boom by means of sprocket chains, or other endlessmembers, whereby the buckets are filled while moving upward against theend wall of the trench and'inwhich each bucket discharges its load whenturned upside down at the upper end of its upward path of travel;-eachbucket, for this purpose,being provided with an open inner side topermit the dirt to enter the open mouth of the bucket and pass entirelythrough the latter. This operation. of filling and discharging thebucket takes place continuously through the rotation of the sprocketchains, and the upper end of the boom, or bucketcarrying support, isprovided with an adjusting device for tilting the boom about ahorizontal axis and in a vertical plane, there- I on'tlie line3-3'ofFig. 1;

by varying the working depth 7 of said bu kets, depending upon desired.

Generally stated,-the tion resides in the provisionof a novel and highlyefficient trenching machine of the foregoing generalcharacter, h H

One of the'objects of the invention is to provide a trenching machine,of the character described, having means for continuouslyand'eifectually discharging thecontents 'of each bucket as itreaches theuppermost point in its pathof' travel, said bucket discharging meansbeing designed to function withoutpossibility of breakage-due to thepassage, of stone,or other foreign matter, through the'buckets, and tofurther operate efiectively regardless of the consistency, or

- moisture content, of the material being, exava e I t 1 v A stillfurther object of the invenon tails and features of construction andnovel machineof this particular'characten,

improvement, the. invention consists in the set forth and claimed. t

the depth of trench object of the invenrear portion of atrenching havmgattached thereto, by means not shown,

resides in the provision'of certain decombinations tend ng to increasethe general efiiciency andserviceability oflan excavating I p secured tothe shaft 3' by means of the bear- Withsuch objects view, as well asother objects which-are incidentto the use of. the

provided parts, and combinations thereof hereinafter Y I ipreferably'hexagonal, orjotherwise polygly understood, there are shownin the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same intopracticalefiect, without limiting the improvements, in their.usefulapplication, to a. the particular construction which, for thepurpose of explanation, has beenmade the subject of illustration.

In said drawings: v Figure 1' is a detail vertical sectional view of theupper portion of the boom, or'bucket support, which is mounted at therear end of the machine, and illustrating the sprocket chains on whichthe buckets are mounted, as well as the construction and operation ofthe ejector, or bucket cleaner devices, and also illustrating the mannerin which the buckets discharge While passing around the sprocket wheelsat the upper end of the boom;

Fig. 2. is a detail rear elevation of the .upper portion of the boom andillustrating more particularly; the bucket cleaner mechanism showninFig. 1; V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section, taken .Fig. 4 is an enlargedtransverse section taken on the line H of Fig. 2; and i 5 is an enlargedperspective view of the plate which constitutes the ejector and cleaner,and which is of a shape and character to scrape the entire surface ofeach bucket, whereby the said ejector, or. cleaner, through relativemovement, passes entirely through each bucket.

Re erring to the drawings, lindicates the an auxiliary frame portion, orsuper-structure 2, having atits rear end a bearing portion in which issuitably journaled a trans-.

verse shaft 3.- The boom, or bucket support,

4: is mounted to swing upon the shaft 3 and comprises a lower portionconsisting of opposed channel members 5, secured together and in spacedrelation, as by the upper and lowerplates 31 bolted or riveted thereto,and adaptedto project or depend downwardly into the trench, and opposedupper portions, orjmembers, 6 secured thereto and rotatably" ing blocks7 The members 6 are secured together inspaced relation, as by boltsbolted or riveted thereto 'as'at 33, The shaft- 3 ;is

with a'pair of sprocket wheels 8, i

machine frame onal, in shape and suitably spaced from one another, overwhich are adapted to pass the endless sprocket chains 9. A lower shaft(not shown), similar to the shaft 8 and having sprocket wheels similarto the wheels 8, is mounted at the lower end of the boom, or bucketsupport t within the ditch over which pass the lower portions of theendless sprocket chains 9. Suitable idler pulleys 10 are provided atintervals along the boom over which the sprocket chains pass on theirdownward passage toward the trench. The upper shaft 3 is furtherprovided with a preferably larger sprocket wheel 14E over which passes asecond sprocket chain by means of which the sprocket wheels 8 and chains9 are rotated from the machine by any suitable source of power (notshown here).

A suitable or desired number of buckets 11 are secured at intervals tothe links of the chains 9, each bucket being preferably rigid with twoparallel links of said chains and each bucket being preferably ofrounded, or turtle-back formation to provide an opening at each end, thesaid rounded formation of the bucket providing a receptacle for thematerial to be excavated when the buckets are in their normal position,traveling up or down with the sprocket chains. Each bucket has itscutting edge, or lip, provided with flared digging teeth 12 and itssides provided with corresponding flared teeth 13, whereby the trenchbeing excavated is wider than the combined width of the sprocket chainsto permit freedom and flexibility of operation.

Referring to Fi g. 1, itwill be observed that on their upward journey,the hexagonal shape of the sprocket wheelsS causes the buckets 11 totilt outwardly away from the sprocket chains in position to have theircontents discharged therefrom and that while traveling toward or from'said sprocket wheels 8, the buckets rest tightly against the sprocketchains in position to carry or receive a load of'material from thetrench. At their upper extremity of travel, the buckets pass between theupper frame members 6 of the bucket supporting boom 4.

A frame member, or yoke, 16 is secured as by a suitable pivot 17 to theupper portion of the boom, the upper parallel deflected arms of the yokebeing offset and between which is pivoted, as at 18, the bucket cleaner19. The cleaner 19 has secured thereto, at its upper portion.a plate 20of uliicient'wi'dth to traverse the interior of the bucketswith a slightclearance, in order to effectually eject thecontents of the buckets asthey successively'reach the cleaner. The cleaner 19 further comprises adepending arm 21, having a pivot portion 22 to which is secured, [theupper end of a rope, or cable 23. l The latter extends from the arm 21of the cleaner, I over an idler 24-, suitablysecured to the upperportion of the opposed channelmembers When a bucket containing a load ofmaterial reaches the point where it is tilted away from the sprocketwheels 8, as shown in Fig.1, the plate 20 of the cleaning device entersthe bucket and impact-s against the material contained therein. Thepressure of the material contained within the moving bucket tends torock the cleaner 19 on its W1 pivot 18, thereby moving the weight, orblock 25 upwardly on its runway between the channel beams. Should thematerial contained in the buckets be of a loose or dry character, theweight alone of the block 25 is sutficient to expel the material fromthe bucket without rocking the cleaner on its pivot 18. However, shouldthe material be of a heavy or moist character, its tendency would be toresist the pressure of the cleaning plate 26, thereby rocking thecleaner on its pivot and raising the weight an appreciable distance.Consequently, when the tendency of the sticky material to adhere hasbeen overcome by continued travel of the bucket,

the weight 25, together With its rolling contact with the beams, causesit to return suddenly to its normal position, thereby rocking thecleaner 19 on its pivot with-sufficient force to suddenly and completelyeject the contents of the bucket from the bucket and into the hopper 28,and thence to the endless belt, or conveyer 29, whereby the ejectedmaterial is immediately discharged at a point remote from the trench. i7

It will be further apparent that, should an obstruction, such as aWedged stick or stone, or the like, come incontact with the cleaner 19,its manner of mounting described serves to effectually prevent anydangerof breakage of any'part, as the foreign matterlodged in the bucket willovercome the weightof the block 25 suficiently to pass over the cleanerwithout damaging the same, afterwh'ich the block 25 will return thecleaner to its normal cleaning position. It will be further, apparentthat the size or weight ofth'efblock '25 may be varied'to meet existingconditions and to insure an ellicient functioning of the cleaningmechanism in different varieties of soil. "The cleaningplate25ztravels'in an arc of obviously lesser radius than the arc of thebucket body, which further'serves'as an insurance against the. cleaner'j'wedging against the bucket bodywhii'e passingthere- 1 various changesmay be made in the form,

construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferredembodiment thereof.

I claim 1. In a trenching machine, in combination:

longitudinal travel with respect to said boom,

said buckets being adapted when at a determined point of said travel totilt into dumping position, a cleaner pivot-ally mountt said buckets,and anti-friction means carried by said weight.

2. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor, aplurality of buckets carried by said endless conveyor, and

a bucket cleaner, said cleaner being arranged to pass through thebuckets of the conveyor during operation and to remove materialtherefrom by impact therewith and being provided with means fordelivering an impact in proportion to the speed of the buckets.

3. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor, a:plurality of buckets carried by said endless conveyor, and a bucketcleaner for removing material from said buckets by impact therewith,said cleaner being provided with means for cooperating therewith toexert a progressively decreasing force against the material after theimpact;

4. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor,buckets carried by said conveyor, and a cleaner associated with saidconveyor and arranged to sweep material from said buckets, said cleanerbeing mounted for swinging movement and provided with means forresisting the swinging movement of the cleaner in at least one directionand by the inertia thereof.

5. In a trenching machine the combination of, an endless conveyor,buckets carried by said conveyor, a boom for supporting said conveyor, abucket cleaner for removing ma terial from said buckets by a sweepingaction, and a gravity device for resisting movement of the cleaner in atleast one direction and returning the cleaner to a normal position, saidboom being formed to provide a housing and guideway for said gravitymember.

TRULS LOKEN.

